


The Life We Never Lived

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Luke and Leia Raised Together, Dimension Travel - Falling Into Alternate Universe, F/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-10-25 18:04:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Ahsoka and Anakin have worked through their past to start building a future together, but Obi-Wan comes to them with a new discovery that could tear them apart again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleRaven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRaven/gifts).

> This is a sequel to [Along Our Twisted Path](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16233437). Ahsoka walked out from the World Between Worlds through a door to a universe where Anakin never fell to the Dark Side.
> 
> LR, I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

A noise woke her. Ahsoka remained still, keeping her eyes closed as she tried to place the sound. Sixteen years on the run had given her a highly-developed danger sense, alerting her even during sleep to slight changes that could mean swift death or lingering torture. It also meant that she woke frequently when she didn't need to, but better alive and restless than the alternative.

She felt a change in the pressure of Anakin's arms holding her. He'd sensed her waking, and now he was awake, holding as motionless as she did. Neither spoke. She listened, ears straining, until she heard the noise a second time. 

It was a small beep, the sound of an almost-silenced alert on the control panel in Anakin's quarters.

He sighed. "I should check that." He crawled past her out of the bunk and walked to the panel, pressing the button. "Go ahead," he said, not engaging the holoprojector. Nude holograms were generally frowned upon in the army.

"General, sorry to disturb you, but we've received word that General Kenobi will be meeting us at the base. Do you want us to dock or to hold place?"

"How many ships did he bring?"

"One small frigate. He instructed the rest of his ships to wait in a nearby system." 

"We'll dock. What's our ETA?"

"Forty-six hours."

"Thank you." Anakin closed the line and came back to bed. His body was cooler, and she shivered as he moved next to her, pressing against her for warmth.

"Are we low on hangars?" Ahsoka asked, wrapping her arms around him.

"No, but we've got a maximum number of ships we want at any given base at a time. One way we keep ahead of the Republic is not centralizing." He didn't have to say they were doing the same with Jedi. No more than three met up at a time to keep the majority safe from the hunters constantly after them. Just because Ahsoka was no longer in her home universe didn't mean she was safe from pursuit in this one. The Jedi had been hunted to near extinction where she came from. They'd fared a little better here, numbering in the dozens.

"I haven't seen Obi-Wan since the end of the war in my timelines. Have you told him about me yet?"

"I sent a communication with the basics. I didn't want to tell him too much in case the message was intercepted. I'm sure you're the reason he came back from his mission so early."

Anakin hadn't said much about Obi-Wan since her arrival, only that yes, he was another survivor, and he'd taken a mission to scout out the Unknown Regions for potential bases and allies. Anakin didn't sound happy that Obi-Wan was coming back now.

"Are the two of you having an argument?" She left off the 'again.' Listening to them bicker had been the soundtrack of her Padawan days.

Anakin shifted beside her. "We're not fighting. You know we don't always see eye to eye."

"I'd like to think that difference wound up giving you both a more complete point of view."

He chuckled, pressing his lips to her bare shoulder before saying, "Now that's a Yoda answer if I ever heard one. Yoda's alive. I don't know if I told you."

She wouldn't let him change the subject. "You did. Why are you worried about seeing Obi-Wan?"

Anakin rolled, facing her, one arm propping his head. Ahsoka turned to look at him. His hair was mussed from sleep, and from the things they'd done before they'd slept. She'd taken lovers before, and there had been many times when one smouldering look between them had been enough to relight the passion for another round. Part of her expected that to happen now, but instead, his expression was sad. And she understood.

"He will not understand. He absolutely will not."

Ahsoka took this in, musing on the declaration with all she knew of her Obi-Wan and of the Anakin she'd left behind in the other universe. "You told me he got you and Padmé to safety before the twins were born. He knows about them."

"He does. He didn't like it, as much as he's fond of the kids. He said it was a terrible decision on my part and hers, one that cost Padmé her life." He still grieved. Part of him would always grieve. Obi-Wan wouldn't have possessed the tools to help Anakin deal with that pain back when everything had happened. Jedi weren't meant to leave widows behind, nor to be widowed themselves. Obi-Wan would never have intended to blame Anakin for Padmé's death, but Ahsoka could easily see him not knowing the right words to say, not with his upbringing and certainly not with his own griefs so fresh.

"I'm sure it didn't help that you didn't trust him with the secret earlier." Before Anakin could reply in piqued anger, she added, "Which means we're better off telling him up front before he finds out from someone else."

"No one else knows." He kissed her, lightly and playfully. "And we'll only see him for a short while before he leaves."

"You want to keep this a secret?" Her heart fell a little.

"Not forever. Just until after he's gone."

She hadn't made any plans since her arrival in this universe. The rules were different, and she'd spent most of her time trying to find her footing. She'd always loved her Anakin in a nebulous mix as her sibling, protector, and best friend, but the man she'd known had fallen to darkness. This Anakin wore his face and knew her name, and he flowed with the same vitality and power that her Anakin had. This man loved her in all those ways and more, had loved her completely from the moment she'd stepped back into his life. Ahsoka had no plans for her new existence except that she wanted Anakin beside her wherever she went, and as much as it scared him, he wanted the same thing.

But in this universe, Anakin was still a Jedi, even if Ahsoka was not, and loving her was if anything even more forbidden than his last relationship. She'd been his apprentice, and he'd been given the caretaking of her. While an indiscretion with someone outside the Order would be frowned upon and would be considered grounds for expulsion, taking his Padawan into his bed was considered an obscenity and a crime. The Jedi survivors were scattered, and they had no hope of recreating anything like the hierarchy from before the purge, but they'd all been raised under the same set of rules. None of them would react well to discovering Anakin was breaking a huge one. Obi-Wan would react even worse, knowing how badly the last time had gone.

He would want to protect Ahsoka. He would want to help Anakin avoid repeating the same mistakes from before. Obi-Wan loved them. He wanted the best for them both.

He would not understand.

"We won't tell him," she agreed. "But we are not going to keep it a secret. I don't intend to lie, and," she said, with a worried sigh as she brushed his arm, "you will have to tell the Organas. For one thing, they should know I know who the twins really are, and once they do, they have to be able to trust me. That starts with telling them the truth every time."

Anakin nodded once. "I'll tell them, but I am going to point out you figured out the secret on your own."

"Luke looks like you."

"Let's hope you're the only one who thinks so." He took a thoughtful breath. "They're planning on meeting us at the base. I should send them a message to wait. That's too many of us all together with Obi-Wan there."

"You said the rule is no more than three Jedi. I'm not a Jedi and neither are the kids. We could even invite Master Yoda." She grinned at him in the low light, and earned a worried smile in return. She took this as a good reason to kiss him. "It will be fine."

Anakin didn't look as certain, but he did look interested in more kisses. His hands found her shoulders and he rolled them both over with a deeper kiss.

"I should go," Ahsoka teased him, between more kisses, twisting herself to fit against him deliciously and enjoying his thick sigh. "If we're to keep this a secret, I don't want to be caught creeping out of your quarters in the morning."

"You should stay." His hand tickled down her body, knuckles brushing her skin before his fingers reached the sensitive place between her legs. She saw his point.

* * *

Sneaking around sounded like fun. On the more prudent hand, Ahsoka had learned some time ago that whispers attracted attention where shouts were ignored. She stayed to shower and dress in Anakin's quarters, then walked out with him bold as day. Had she slipped out in the early hours, watchful eyes would have wondered what they were hiding. Instead, no one batted an eye.

"They're assuming I went to see you earlier this morning."

"Let's hope so." They went to the ship's mess for breakfast, then to the bridge. Ahsoka still lacked an official rank in the Separatist structure. Anakin referred to her as Commander Tano, and that had more or less stuck, although a few members of his crew kept slipping up and calling her General as they did the rest of the Jedi. It made for awkward conversation, which she avoided by keeping her mouth shut, her ears pricked, and her mind open.

Rex's ship was docked with theirs as they traveled. He met them on the bridge, a wide smile spreading over his face as he saw Ahsoka. Anakin gave him a friendly nod, then went to the duty officer ro hear the morning's report.

Rex said, "You look a lot better than you did. How's the arm?"

"As good as new." She flexed her elbow to demonstrate, then winced. "Almost as good. Another couple of days with bacta patches should finish the job."

"Well, we're not anticipating any fights soon. Rest up. Another good night's sleep or two, and we'll have you swinging a lightsaber around in no time."

"I hope so. Fighting seems to be my main job right now." The words came out unexpectedly. She covered with a smile. "We should catch up."

"You did promise me a long talk over caf. Come on." He headed towards the aft.

"Now?"

"Our course is set. Do you have something else to do right now?"

"I guess not." She glanced at Anakin, who'd just finished taking the report. "Rex and I are going to go chat."

"Have fun."

The mess was emptier than before. Ahsoka got a steaming mug, and Rex one of his own. They found a table out of the way. She started in first, hoping to steer the conversation. "How did you wind up fighting for the Separatists?"

"You know, I ask myself that all the time." He tapped the side of his head. His scar was much fainter in this universe. He hadn't needed emergency brain surgery in the field here. "You know what they did to us?"

She nodded. "How many others managed to get their chips out?"

"Not nearly enough. You've seen the battlefields. Sometimes, when we manage to take prisoners, we'll operate. Mostly we don't have the chance."

"It was the same where I'm from. The chips activated, and that was that."

"Anakin told me you came from another universe. I didn't want to believe him, but here you are."

"'Anakin?'" she asked with a delighted smile.

"It's his name and we've been friends for twenty years. I use his rank when we're working. You mean I didn't in your universe?" Rex was angling now, watching her face, curious about his own fate, and that of their other friends.

"In my universe, Anakin fell when the rest of the Jedi were killed." It was the same near-truth she'd told this Anakin when she'd first arrived.

"How?" he asked.

She'd wondered that herself. "I wasn't there. You and I were on Mandalore. And we both left there alive, which is what you really wanted to know."

"I wasn't going to ask."

"You were definitely going to ask."

"All right, yeah." The embarrassment came and went quickly. "Did we go into hiding together, or join the Separatists?"

"We had to separate. I went into hiding. You tried fixing things from within until they retired you. We fell out of touch for years. We finally reconnected about six months before I came here."

"Does he, I mean, do I, no," he shook his head. "Does the other guy know you're here?"

"No. There were some weird Force things that happened." He waved his hand; Rex was used to weird Force things. Ahsoka said, "Everyone assumed I was dead, and I wound up here."

"So he lost you, too."

A little stab of homesickness hit her. A lot of things about her universe had been rotten, but it had been hers, and she'd left her friends there behind. "I guess so." She reached for Rex's hand. "But there's no way back now, and I like it here. Why don't you tell me about what you've been doing? You have your own command now?"

He launched into a quick run-down of the squads he commanded, equally proud of the rough old soldiers and the shiniest new recruits. She listened for names she knew, her hopes dimming when she heard none. "In my universe, you wound up living with Wolffe and Gregor."

He scoffed. "Now there's a picture. They didn't want to join up. Said they were done fighting for either side. They do have a place together, though I haven't heard anything from them about making it legal."

"Legal?" She blinked in confusion. "Wait, they're married here?"

"You could call it that. It was always against regulations for any of us to get married, just like you. Guess some things don't change."

"Here's to the good changes," Ahsoka said, and toasted her mug against his.

* * *

They spent the night in his cabin again. Her quarters were smaller, and Anakin could be called in the middle of his sleep cycle to deal with unexpected problems. If they intended to keep things quiet for now, the last place he needed to be discovered was in Ahsoka's bed.

Ahsoka pushed away his worry as she pushed him down to the bunk. Her own worries had been banked for the time being. This wasn't the man who had fallen to evil, or murdered their friends, or who tried to kill her. This was the man who had stayed true to his ideals, and kept fighting for freedom and hope, and who loved her.

The emotion was easy to read inside his mind, open before her as she lowered herself onto him with a sigh. Anakin loved her with the same passion he brought to everything he'd ever done, in this universe or any other. He wanted to hide this away, but as his eyes fixed on hers, the clarity couldn't be missed.

She felt his reassurance flood her mind, picking up on her new concern. Ahsoka dropped the thought, focusing on the good, full feeling of him inside her, of the building coil of her own pleasure and the echo of his. The instant feedback loop urged them to make up for lost time and lost chances, until there was nothing either could do but fall over the edge, hands clasped and bodies shaking and souls convinced there was no way back.

* * *

She sensed Obi-Wan's presence even before their ship docked at the base. He'd survived in this universe. She still didn't know his fate in her last one, and now she never would. The years of wonder and mourning hit her with an unexpected ache. As the hatch lowered, she saw him waiting for them with his own confused array of emotions. Sorrow had aged him, greying his beard and carving lines into his face. Something inside her broke, and she flew into his arms, almost knocking him off his feet with the hug.

His surprise turned to joy. Obi-Wan embraced her, and his eyes were wet when he pulled away at last to take a look at her face. "I don't believe in miracles," he said, "but I'm happy to take the odd one. How can you be here?" He looked past her, where Rex was disembarking. "I seem to recall a very credible report of your death."

"Don't remind me," Rex said.

Anakin said, "Oh sure, Obi-Wan gets a hug as soon as you see him. I had to wait for you to get breakfast." He clasped Obi-Wan's free hand briefly; the other held onto Ahsoka's arm, as if Obi-Wan was confirming to himself she was real. "Good to see you. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"I couldn't not come," he said, his gaze locked on Ahsoka. "How did you survive?"

"Long story. I'm not the Ahsoka you remember." His pulse jumped against her arm, but he didn't pull away. She felt the grief inside him.

"I see. Or rather, I don't, but I'm sure you'll explain." He turned, changing to hold her hand, still unwilling to let go. "I didn't only come here to see you, I'm afraid. We've found something."

This was to Anakin and Rex, but Ahsoka was the one to say, "In the Unknown Regions?"

"Yes. We've charted the course back, but I need to take council with you and the others." He offered the most subtle of nods to Anakin.

"Ahsoka is briefed on everything."

"Excellent," said Obi-Wan, and he squeezed her hand.

* * *

"I've heard of this," Obi-Wan said, leaning back in his chair. They'd taken over the briefing room, enjoying the luxury of a closed door and a table. Rex had joined them, along with Obi-Wan's SIC, a clone named Hotwire whom Ahsoka had never met in her timeline.

"Really?" he'd asked, astonished. "I served with you twice."

"Different universe," she'd explained, and that had veered the conversation sharply.

"It wasn't spoken of outside the Jedi Council. Even then, I only found out by accident when I came into a conversation early. The World Between Worlds was considered too dangerous a subject." Obi-Wan gestured at Ahsoka. "You said your friend saved you from death. While I appreciate that you're here and alive, I can only imagine what kind of ripples his rash decision will leave behind."

"I understand," she said. "I was destined to die in that universe." She wouldn't look at Anakin. "Part of me thinks that was what brought me to this one. There's no room for me in that future."

"And now we have to wonder what purpose your being here will have on our future. All moments in time, and all the could have beens, are connected in there, or so I was told. The right person, or the wrong one, could change the destinies of everyone throughout time and space."

Which was what Palpatine had tried to do, reaching his claws in through force or Force. Ahsoka suspected that he'd been the one to place the vision of Kanan's death in front of Ezra, to tempt him to open another door and let the Emperor inside. He'd have reshaped the galaxy by preying on a boy's grief.

"I didn't come here to change your future. I came here because I walked out through the wrong door. Or the right one. Maybe I was meant to come here."

"I like that theory," Anakin said with a fond smile. Ahsoka flattened the warm glow suffusing through her. Now wasn't the time.

Obi-Wan said, "I'd like to believe it. Perhaps you were put here in our world now to help with the problem we've uncovered." He took the datapad he'd brought with him, and set it face up on the table. With a brush at the screen, he generated a hologram. "This world doesn't appear on any star chart except the ones in our ships' libraries. I'm sure of it."

The planet didn't look much different from hundreds of other worlds she'd seen over the years: blue oceans, large continents with lush greenery. There didn't look to be much in the way of technological build, from this view anyway.

"The native population of sentients number around five million, spread over the planet. They haven't developed off-world travel." He showed them a picture of the species: bipedal, vaguely humanoid with much longer limbs, large, dark eyes, and a thin, fine spotted pelt that they covered with simple clothes. "As near as we could tell, they call their world Eshara."

"Okay," Rex said. "Standard pre-indust contact. You make notes, you leave them undisturbed."

"That's what we thought," said Hotwire. Obi-Wan changed the picture to a recording. Two youngsters were at play, throwing a ball back and forth to one another. They weren't using their hands. Another reel showed a set of adults working, casually reaching out their limbs towards items they wanted, then setting to work with them.

Anakin said, "Some of them have the Force." He looked at Obi-Wan's face. "_All_ of them have the Force?"

"As far as we could observe, yes."

Ahsoka said, "But that's not how it works. There are only one or two per billion in any species, if that."

"More if they're related," Anakin said. He watched the images in front of him. "Is it like Haruun Kal?"

That sounded familiar. "What's that?"

Obi-Wan said, "Master Windu's home world. After some study, he came to the conclusion an ancient Jedi research vessel must have crash-landed there, and the survivors went on to have children who inherited their parents' abilities. By his time, the indigenous human population of the planet all exhibited some level of Force sensitivity, although for various reasons, he was one of only a tiny few who ever trained to become a Jedi."

The story sounded familiar. "You think this new planet might have had a similar origin?"

"I can't say. We did a limited survey, careful not to interact with the people there. That's not conducive to performing a full anthropological study of their history. How they came to exist isn't the problem."

Hotwire said, "A whole damn planet full of Jedi is the problem. Begging your presence, sirs."

"As I've explained," Obi-Wan said in a raised voice, "they are not Jedi. It's a way of life, and a lifetime of commitment. These people live in a state of balance with the Force, imposed by the fact they all have the Force."

Anakin said, "That's a lot of potential Jedi."

"Or potential Sith," Ahsoka said, reading Obi-Wan's face. "You're worried that the Chancellor might find them."

"For good reason. We managed to free most of the younglings he took from the Temple, but when presented an opportunity like this, he's certain to make a move."

Younglings? Ahsoka glanced at Anakin, who wasn't surprised. She'd have to ask later. The trappings of this universe were so similar to hers, she kept getting caught wrong-footed on differences she wasn't expecting. Anakin said, "You're considering breaking the rule about pre-indust civs. Bring them all to our side."

"I haven't gotten that far," said Obi-Wan. "It's a terrible, dangerous idea. Pre-indust societies have the right to develop without outside forces directing them. Every time that rule has been broken, it's led to war, or enslavement. The Chancellor may be happy to use people as tools to shape into his desired image, but I'd like to think we're above that." He looked at Hotwire and Rex, "Begging your presence."

Rex said, "Beg your own. That's the story of your people as much as ours. We were all raised to be tools for someone else to use."

Ahsoka said, "It didn't mean that was right." She looked at the holograms. "Is there a way to hide them? Make sure the Republic never finds them?"

Anakin said, "They're in the UR. That's already hidden."

"But we found them," Obi-Wan said. "Someone else could do the same. There's another thing. The day we recorded this was the same day I got your message that Ahsoka had returned, and I don't believe that's a coincidence. You said we're tools, but we are all tools of the Force. Destiny has changed, possibly due to your arrival here." He changed the hologram. A grand building took up the entire image, the people only small figures at its base. "Their holiest site. It pulses with the Force. The Esharans built this temple to worship there. That's how the ancients chose the locations for the old Jedi temples. And now you tell me those temples might include doorways into the World Between Worlds."

A temple, built on a hub of power, just like the one that brought her here. Her breath caught. "You think there's a door."

"I don't know for sure."

Anakin said tightly, "You might have a way home after all." She saw the spool of his emotions run over his face before he carefully smoothed out his features. General Skywalker didn't have time for that. "We'll have to meet," he said. "They won't like it. They'll expect a trap, and I have to say, if the Republic got wind of it, there would be." The rule was that no more than three Jedi met together at any single location. Their numbers had been whittled to fewer than a hundred, spread out among the stars. The decision they had before them now was relevant to the entire Separatist movement, but too dangerous to discuss across transmission.

Ahsoka asked about the Council. "You can't be the only one left."

"Yoda's alive, but he won't join us. He refused to fight what he saw as an endless, pointless war. The others are gone, I'm afraid. Depa died in a skirmish eight years ago, and she was the only other member to survive the purge." He turned to Hotwire and Rex. "This is going to be boring Jedi business. Why don't the two of you get some caf? We'll join you in a bit."

To Ahsoka's surprise, both clones left. "Did you influence them?"

"Hardly. They both know there are times when we can't talk with them in the room. I'm surprised they didn't try to take you with them."

"I know what you're thinking," Anakin said, sitting back in his chair and fixing Obi-Wan with a frown. "It's a bad plan."

"It's easier for them to travel."

Ahsoka looked between them. "Care to fill me in?"

Obi-Wan said, "The Organas will be meeting us here later today. They can carry the message."

"There are a million reasons why they shouldn't," Anakin said.

"Really? I can only think of two."

"Fine," he said. "There are two reasons, but they are two very important reasons. They're supposed to stay away from other Jedi."

Now she understood why the clones had been sent out of the room. "How many people know about the twins?"

Anakin said, "The people in this room. None of the other Jedi have met them. I'd like to keep it that way, and before you start, Breha agrees. She doesn't even like the kids spending too much time around me."

"And I respect her reasons for that," Obi-Wan replied, "but the fact remains that we need to pass the word, and we need to do so via someone we can absolutely trust to deliver the message. Bail Organa is at the top of that list."

"Leia and Luke aren't."

"I'll leave that for him to decide. Look on the bright side. If he agrees with you, he might leave them here with us for a while."

She couldn't read Anakin's face. He was making his best effort to hide all the conflicting emotions rolling under his skin. "He might," he said at last.

* * *

Anakin was called to Command. Out of habit, Ahsoka followed. A light, happy sensation filled her heart as Obi-Wan joined them.

"Just like old times," he said, noticing her pleased expression.

"Almost. We're all a lot older now. Some of us may even be wiser."

"Let us hope."

"General," said Rex as they stepped onto the deck. "we've received word from our team on Alnis 4. They've run into trouble."

"Pull up the message."

The holoprojector lit up. An older man, human, stood at attention, not flinching at the sounds of blaster fire nearby. "Burra Team reporting in. We've engaged hostiles and are near victory. Please send reinforcements." The transmission ended.

"We've verified the source," Rex said. "Wouldn't be the first time the Republic tried to lure us in this way," he added for Ahsoka's benefit, and she inclined her head in thanks for the information.

"That's excellent news," said Obi-Wan. "Alnis 4 is an excellent strategic location."

"Not anymore," Anakin said with a hint of apology in his voice. He pulled up a map. "These are our current footholds. That's the Alnis system." Stars appeared, and within a ring of other blue, Separatist-held worlds, Alnis lingered red.

"Ah."

"It's still a good acquisition," said Rex. "Solidifies our hold in the sector." He pulled up another hologram showing the positions of their scattered fleet, the overlaid the maps. Anakin examined the display. "Contact the Third Battalion and tell them to send in two regiments. They're closest."

Ahsoka said, "The Third Battalion is busy with the situation on Obfar. I'm not sure they can spare the troops." She pointed to the map. "The Second Battalion has too many wounded from their last encounter. They need time to recover before they go back into combat." She moved the map around. "The Fourth is finished with their last mission, and they're only five systems away. They can be there in an hour."

"Good idea. Tell the Fourth Battalion to get to Alnis 4 and prepare for engagement." He glanced at the map again. "Once the planet is secured, send in the Second Battalion. They can have some R&R while they keep the peace."

"On it, General," Rex said.

Obi-Wan said to her, "You seem to have settled in well to this new life. When should I look forward to hearing about General Tano's many victories?"

"I hadn't given it any thought. I'm not ready to take command."

"You've been ready since you were seventeen, but of course take as much time as you need."

She didn't look at Anakin. She wondered and didn't dare ask if Obi-Wan felt the sudden rustle of worry in his emotions.


	2. Chapter 2

Bail's ship docked an hour later. Ahsoka went to join Anakin at the airlock, but Obi-Wan's hand on her arm stilled her. "Give him a moment. We can join them soon enough."

She made herself relax. "How have you been over the years? In my universe, I haven't seen you since the massacre."

"Surviving. It's the best any of us can do." He gave her a gentle smile. "Meanwhile, you appear to be thriving. I took a look at the mission reports since you've been back. You've gotten your feet under yourself very well here for dropping in the midst of a war."

"We were gearing up for war where I came from. You're more organized here, and there are a lot more Jedi around, but otherwise it's not so different."

"Was Anakin alive in the universe you came from?" The familiar ache hit her, and Obi-Wan wasn't as easily dissuaded as Rex. At her expression, and at whatever emotions he felt from her, he said, "I'm so sorry."

"It was another life. It doesn't matter here."

His eyes went to the hatch. This universe's Anakin stood on the other side, greeting his children. "I still worry about him, you know. It sounds silly. He's almost forty years old, and hasn't listened to me in twenty years. But I worry if he's eating, and sleeping. I worry if he's driving himself too hard. And yes," he said, catching her eye again, and nodding once, "I worry about the hold the Dark Side has on him. He's more powerful than anyone else I've ever known."

"I don't know what turned him in my universe."

"I have some idea. The day the children were born, he was full of rage and pain and grief. I didn't know if he would pull himself back from the edge, if he could. I feared for the twins' lives. But he went to them, after, and he held them for a long time, and he stepped back from the edge."

She pictured this all too well. The Anakin she remembered walked the knife-edge between light and dark at times. One push could have doomed him, and in her world, perhaps one push was all he'd needed. "He's a better person when he's around the people he cares about."

"Which is why I am delighted beyond measure to have you back. I could sense how happy he is the moment you both disembarked." The hatch opened, and his face broke into a wide smile as the twins hurried to his side. "Hello there! It's good to see you again."

"Hello, Master Obi-Wan," Leia said gravely, but Luke beamed beside her and with only the slightest hesitation, came in for a quick hug.

"It's been so long since we saw you. I thought you were going to be gone for a couple of years."

"I was. But under the circumstances, I felt it would be best if I returned for a while."

"Hi," Ahsoka said, and got a smile of her own from Luke and a formal but not impolite nod from his sister. She had known Leia Organa in her universe, but only as Bail and Breha's child, and she'd had no brother. Maybe that was the changing point in this universe. Perhaps Leia had been a singleton in the other life, and Anakin had fallen, but his love for two children in this life had been enough to save him. Ahsoka had no means of testing the theory, and she was certain there had to be more variables that she wasn't seeing. For one, she was certain Darth Vader had never known Leia Organa's true parentage, implying he hadn't known about her at all.

Anakin stayed back, speaking quietly with Bail. She ignored them for the moment, realizing they wanted privacy for their conversation. "When's the last time you saw Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan said, "It's been years. Come, you two rascals. Rex is here as well, and he hasn't seen you since then, either." 

"We are not rascals," Leia said. Then she glanced at her brother. "I'm not," she amended.

"Go see Rex," Ahsoka said, and she went back to the hatch as the three of them walked away. She caught Anakin's eye, and he gestured her closer. "I don't want to intrude."

"It's fine," Anakin said. "We were discussing the message."

"An entire planet?" Bail said in astonishment. "He's sure?"

"He seems sure," said Ahsoka. "Can you tell the others?"

"I can. It will take weeks. If you intend to gather...."

"And we shouldn't," said Anakin.

"…. then you'll need a safe location."

Ahsoka said, "Which we don't seem to have."

Bail said, "This would be easier if you had a Council."

Ahsoka went to dismiss this as well, and felt her own teachings kick her. Jedi always found alternatives. "You know, you may be on to something."

"We don't have a Council," Anakin explained with mild impatience. "There aren't enough members left. We told you."

"Right, I remember. But maybe we don't look to the past. Maybe we look to the present. The Senate is made up of elected representatives who operate in the best interests of the people who sent them. Why can't the Jedi do the same? Have them send a chosen voice."

Bail said, "You want me to deliver a message _and_ run an election?"

"No, I'm not even sure you should tell them after all. We can ask them who they trust to meet us. No more than five or six to speak for the rest. Obi-Wan doesn't get a vote because they'd be voting on his proposal."

Anakin said, "It might work. Then we wouldn't have to tell anyone what's going on until they're here." He gave her one of his unguarded smiles, full of fondness and pride. "You always find another answer."

"I had a good example for thinking outside the usual lines."

"When you're finished admiring each other," said Bail, "that doesn't provide a safe location."

"Here," Anakin said. "I'll run the security risk. I couldn't ask anyone else to do the same." It made sense. This base had been carved deep into the heart of a small moon. There had been rumors in her old life that the Empire was working on a planet-killer, but unless the Republic had done the same and was ready to launch, they should be as safe here as they would be anywhere else.

"Obi-Wan's ship would be better," Ahsoka said. "We could meet in the middle of nowhere."

"You keep saying 'we,'" Bail pointed out to her. "The last time we spoke, you were firmly not a Jedi."

"Let's just say I'm looking at all my options."

* * *

Ahsoka had assumed Anakin would spend most of his time with the kids. Instead, they were off with Obi-Wan, presumably catching up with Rex and their other friends. Anakin and Bail went to Command together, exchanging information about their own recent endeavors and plans. Ahsoka followed in their wake.

"I've been talking to our friends in the Senate about the Boonta situation. We've put together a proposal to the Chancellor to cease operations there and start peace negotiations."

"What did he say?" Anakin asked.

"What do you think he said?"

"Right."

"Rex is very lucky you managed to extract his team. I doubt we'll get another chance to go in with aid unless we can find a political solution." Bail's face said all it needed to about their chances for that. "I heard the two of you were left behind during the extraction. Did you manage to gather any more intel during your time on the surface?"

Bail couldn't read Anakin's thoughts. Ahsoka didn't have to. The spike in his emotions was enough. He kept his eyes forward, not darting to her. "No, unfortunately. We were pinned down close to the battle site. We had to stay in hiding until they came back for us."

They'd located a narrow crack in the mountainside, and squeezed through to a small, dark cavern, where their pursuers didn't follow and couldn't find them. They'd found one another instead. After their rescue, Anakin had pulled away from her, embarrassed and ashamed. Ahsoka had refused to let him wallow in guilt over something that required neither guilt nor shame, and at the same time, she had finally let go of her own fears for him based on that other life.

Now, she said, "Rex and his team were working with the Boontan resistance. It's all in his report." She'd read the report about the mission that they'd gone to salvage, another step in her education about how things were in this universe.

"Perhaps we can arrange an official diplomatic mission soon," Bail said. "I'd invite you along," he added, "but you seem to have made an impression during your last visit." He removed a small metal disk from a pocket of his tunic and waited for Anakin's nod before he inserted it into a panel. A small hologram recording appeared above the surface. The battlefield blurred with motion, but from a distance, she saw the flashing of her own lightsabers and Anakin's beside her, and the holocam focused briefly in on their faces before a blaster bolt hit the screen and the feed cut out. "This clip made the news cycle."

"Not my good side," Ahsoka said with a sigh.

Anakin's gaze lingered on the empty space for a moment longer. "They were going to find out you were back eventually. I'd hoped it wouldn't be so soon." He kept his voice even. She heard the concern underneath the calm.

"They found me out in the other universe, too."

"We'll have to be more careful."

Ahsoka paused, shocked at how little that sounded like the Anakin she knew, but a quick glance to Bail showed he at least wasn't taking this so seriously. "Yes, next time you should comb your hair." She sat at one of the transmission stations. "So, what should we say to the others?"

* * *

They rejoined Obi-Wan and the twins for dinner, taking over the briefing room as a private dining area. She'd expected Rex to join them but he was nowhere to be seen. "I asked him to work with Hotwire on the message we intend to distribute," Obi-Wan said.

"Rex doesn't know about the kids," Anakin said. "Unless you told him."

"I didn't."

Leia fixed Anakin with a hard stare. "You won't tell Rex about us, and he's known us forever, but you told Ahsoka, who's only been here a few months?"

"I worked it out as soon as I met Luke," Ahsoka said. "I'm surprised more people haven't made the connection."

Luke had already grabbed his plate and was filling it with food. "First, you'd have to see us together, and that doesn't happen often. Second, you'd have to know that I can use the Force, which only a few people do. Third, you'd have to think that Jedi might have had children, which nobody does."

Bail said, "Remind me to hire you a new logic tutor." His fondness for his son was evident even as he teased. Ahsoka knew there were plenty of stories about human fathers and sons clashing. Luke seemed to get along well with his dad and his birth father both. He sat next to Obi-Wan as they ate, enjoying his near-grandfather's presence.

Leia sat next to Ahsoka, and she played with her food, sliding it to different places on the plate and putting a small bite into her mouth now and then. "I don't like this. If you figured it out, other people could as well."

Her first instinct was to downplay the worry and reassure Leia. But she'd met this girl's other self many times in the other universe, and treating her like a needlessly worried child would do nothing except make her angry. "That's a possibility. Do you have any suggestions for what we could do about it?"

Leia hesitated, eyes widening in surprise for half a second. She'd expected Ahsoka to dismiss her concern. "Mother worries when we spend too much time with Anakin. He thinks she's worried he'll try to take us away from our parents one day, but she's not. She's worried someone will see us with him and put things together. Which you did."

"I'm not everybody. I've known Anakin since he was nineteen. He's my best friend."

"In your universe he was," Leia countered, but without malice, accepting her answer. Ahsoka let the sting of grief move through her again. She didn't feel it every time she looked at Anakin. The other reminders would fade in time.

Now she looked at him, engaged in conversation with Luke and Obi-Wan, his whole face lit up as they talked. She expected Luke to mirror him as they ate, popping bites into his mouth with his hands, but here Luke mimicked his dad and sister, an air of polite sophistication in each movement. Had Anakin been brought up in wealth, comfort, and power, he might have learned this air of grace instead of his own hard-won control over his own body.

Leia said, "After dinner, we can get in some practice time. With all three of you here, it should be a fascinating lesson."

"I can't wait."

To begin the lesson, Anakin asked the twins to move the table to one side using their powers. She could feel the Force flowing easily between them, and read the joy on their faces. Bail saw her watching and said, "They're not permitted to do this at home. We can't risk being seen." This was a treat, then.

Leia asked, "May we both borrow a lightsaber this time?"

Anakin had already unclipped his from his belt, and hesitated, looking between Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. "That's up to them." Both children reached for his hilt, but Leia was faster, pulling it into her palm with the Force before grinning at her brother.

"Here," Obi-Wan said, offering Luke his own. "Go on."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan," he said, with a look to his sister and a nod back to Anakin.

Leia looked at Anakin, gave a half-shrug, and asked, "How do we set these to training mode? I wouldn't want to cut off Luke's arm by accident."

The closest thing Ahsoka had ever had to siblings were the other padawans close to her age back home on Coruscant. She gathered the twins were simply teasing each other. The teasing fell off as they clicked the settings on their borrowed sabers to a less hazardous mode, then faced off.

"Ready position," said Anakin, as they shuffled their feet into place. "Leia, you lead off with the attack, high, and Luke, you block. Then go low with the same." As they watched, the kids moved stiffly from position to position, emulating static figures from place to place rather than letting themselves flow naturally in the course of the movements.

Obi-Wan saw the same thing, and said, "Now spar. Don't announce your moves, just attack and defend." The kids looked at each other, and tried to go through the same motions.

Anakin said, "They're not ready for that yet. Back to ready position. Luke, attack right. Leia, parry him."

"You're doing well," Bail said, which drew a pleased smile from Luke as he went for his sister's side. Ahsoka knew she'd had better form when she'd been six years old. But they didn't get to practice often, and this might be the only time they'd both had a lightsaber to use. This was the best they could do for the moment.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Ahsoka, can you fight with one lightsaber?"

"Well enough." Her technique was accustomed to the weight and slice of both, but she practiced with each hand separately.

"Leia, let Anakin have his lightsaber back. Ahsoka, can you lend her one of yours?"

Leia clutched it closer to herself for a fraction of a moment before holding it out to him. Anakin took his lightsaber from her with a nod. "I know what you're thinking," he said to Obi-Wan as Ahsoka handed over one of hers.

Obi-Wan said, "That's because I trained you. Children, watch." He nodded at Ahsoka and Anakin. She caught on, lighting her second lightsaber and standing in what all the padawans learned as the first ready position. Anakin saluted her with his lit blade and stood opposite her in the same pose. Even without the thread of his emotions as visible as writing in the air, she knew he was annoyed with Obi-Wan for taking over the session, but Anakin could see as well as Ahsoka did how much enjoyment their friend took in this rare chance to teach.

Anakin led high, telegraphing the move, and Ahsoka blocked him easily. He went low with the same parry from her, then she attacked his side as he blocked. They slid from position to position.

"Now you try," Obi-Wan said, and the twins went back to the first ready position before going through the motions, more smoothly this time. With a model to imitate, their moves improved. Anakin and Ahsoka went through the training katas of their childhood, these too-simple old moves rusty with disuse but at the heart of every battle either had ever fought. Watching each other, they moved faster, and the children followed. Anakin's annoyance soon faded in the simple joy of sparring.

Ahsoka waited for the training moves to finish, then she saluted Anakin before attacking with their more usual moves. He countered, smiling now, blocking her in earnest as she improvised more attacks. Ahsoka saw out of the corner of her eye as the kids began freestyle sparring, no longer copying but using the movements they'd copied to lunge and block.

"Very good," said Obi-Wan.

She couldn't see Bail's face from the position she was in. She hoped he wasn't too worried, and then she had no time to worry as Anakin came at her. Ahsoka ducked, rolling from the swipe of his blade and hopping back up on her feet behind him, her lightsaber extended just against his neck. "Got you."

"You have that set to training, right?" he asked, which made her doubt herself for a moment until she remembered flicking the setting switch.

Anakin used her hesitation to flip around and resume the attack. Now they fought with the same abandon as they always did in their private matches, as few as had been over the years. She couldn't forget her desperate battle with Vader, but he'd sworn to kill her. Anakin, this Anakin, _her_ Anakin, would never dream of it. Even as they spun and turned with each other, she recognized the light in his eyes. Their blades flashed faster and faster, green glints as the blue blade crashed against the white, almost too fast to see. She was aware that the children had stopped and were watching them, standing beside their dad and Obi-Wan.

Anakin dodged her saber and spun just as she spun towards him, bringing them face to face with their blades lighting them to one side. If they'd been alone, she would have grabbed him for a deep kiss, and maybe more.

They weren't alone.

She stepped back. "Exactly like that."

"I don't think we can fight exactly like that," Luke said.

"No," said his sister, who watched Ahsoka with an uncomfortably direct stare.

"One day, perhaps," Obi-Wan said. "Practice is over for now, I think." He held out his hand to Luke, who reluctantly passed over the lightsaber. "You'd do best if you could practice every day."

Bail said, "They've started swordplay lessons."

"It's not the same," said Anakin. "The weight distribution and balance are too different. But," he said, with an encouraging nod, "it's a good start. Fencing with metal can teach them strategy."

"We know strategy," said Leia. She caught the warning expression on her dad's face and added, "But of course we're happy to learn more."

"How's your hand-to-hand training?" asked Obi-Wan. 

"They're doing fine," Anakin said. "But by all means, quiz them on that, too. Snips, can I have a word outside?"

She followed him out of the room as the twins faced off, Obi-Wan giving them notes on their forms. The door closed.

"What is it?" As she said the last word, Anakin was suddenly right in front of her, surprising her with a kiss. Her arms wrapped around him even as her eyes went to the side, confirming they were alone in the corridor. She wondered if he sensed the same flooding desire from her as she felt singing inside him.

"I see our problem with sparring together," she said into his mouth.

"I don't see any problems."

She pulled away after too long. Anyone could walk by. Worse, there were three people in that room who might pick up on the swift shift in emotions just outside the door. "Remember what you said. Not while he's here."

"It'll be fine," he replied, but she saw the regretful understanding on his face.

"I should go. Tell the others I had to run an errand. You should go back inside and spend time with them." She pressed a kiss against his jaw and enjoyed the shuddering breath it drew from him.

"We could take a few more minutes."

"I don't want minutes. I'd like hours. Days if we've got them." That wasn't fair, leaving him to go back into the room with the prospect she'd offered lingering hot inside his brain. She'd make it up to him later, and as she made her way to Command, the thought filled her with a warmth she was glad no one else could pick up on.

* * *

Ahsoka busied herself with reviewing old mission notes. The history of this universe was documented in the battles between the Republic and these Separatists, and she needed all the history lessons she could handle. Anakin had approved her security clearance to the same level as his, allowing her access to the classified documents. She could read back in her quarters, but there she'd be surrounded with silence. The hum of the bridge crew at their jobs soothed her. Engrossed in her reading, she lost track of the time.

"Commander?"

She looked up, not recognizing the non-comm she'd sensed walking by. "Yes?"

"A message came in. It's from the _Cloudflower_." The woman handed her the flimsy.

"Thank you."

The message would have been encoded at both ends. Even so, the only thing it said was, _"Four days out from your position."_

Now that Obi-Wan had returned, the _Cloudflower_ was the farthest away. The others would be here sooner if they chose to come. She pictured messages passed between the small fleets, twinkling sparks of curiosity between Jedi not used to one another's company. What's so important to convince Skywalker to break the rule about meeting? Can you go in my stead and will you decide in my name?

She folded the flimsy and pocketed it before securing her terminal. Her reading was finished for the evening. A quick check of the briefing room showed the lessons had also ended for tonight. Obi-Wan had quarters on his own ship. The Organas had retired to their borrowed cabin.

It made perfect sense to tell Anakin.

She pressed the signal on his door, not inviting herself inside. She pulled the flimsy from her pocket while two crew members walked by in the corridor. She didn't tell them this was official Jedi business, no reason to think anything else, carry on. She kept her eyes on the words of the short message. This could have waited until tomorrow.

The door slid open. "Hi," he said. She tilted her head to the departing witnesses. "Did you need something, Commander?"

"Message from the _Cloudflower_." He stepped aside and let her in. The door shut. She fully expected his mouth against hers, and she wasn't disappointed.

"I've got hours now," he said.

"I actually have a message from the _Cloudflower_." She waved the flimsy. "They'll be here in four days."

"Oh." He took the message from her, reading for himself. "That's good. Is that why you dropped by?"

"I thought I should tell you the news. So I'll be going." She turned to the door, and she was also not surprised by the hand against her arm.

"You don't have to go."

"You said we should wait until Obi-Wan leaves."

"I know what I said."

This was a bad idea, she thought, and she pushed away that thought, drawing him to herself with welcome arms.


	3. Chapter 3

She woke in the middle of the night. Anakin lay fast asleep beside her, undisturbed by whatever had roused her. Some slight change in the air, some restless dream from another aboard the ship? She sensed no danger. She also sensed it was past time for her to be in her own bed. Resisting the urge to kiss his sleeping head, Ahsoka slipped out of the bunk and dressed in the darkness of his cabin.

Writing a note was trite. He'd know where she'd gone and why she'd chosen to leave when she was unlikely to be observed.

Staying had been foolish, she told herself as she opened the door. While she enjoyed the first bright rush of any new romance and the swift, brilliant stage when she and her lover couldn't keep their hands off one another, they were in the company of old friends who had cause for concern. Ahsoka and Anakin couldn't demonstrate how well-suited the two of them were to the new relationship they were building when they were sneaking around like thieves.

"Hi," said Leia.

Ahsoka did have plenty of control over her own body and reactions. She didn't jump or spin or fluster. Leia Organa was not a threat. She turned her head and offered the girl a nod in greeting. "Hello. I didn't expect you'd be up this late."

"I stayed awake to send a message to Mother. Now I can't sleep."

"All right. Are you planning on wandering the base?"

"I'd actually come to see you. But you weren't in your cabin." In another few years, Ahsoka was sure Leia would learn to hide her expressions. Politicians' children always did, and she was nearly there. She would learn to tell a bold-faced lie to an enemy, and to keep her own secrets away from her face. Tonight, she wore her suspicions like heavy powder applied by an inexperienced hand.

Ahsoka saw this. She went for the lie anyway. "I stepped out."

"Yes, I saw the cabin you stepped out of." Not good at hiding what she was thinking, and not old enough to understand she was best aided by pretending to know less than she did.

They were alone in the corridor. That wouldn't last. Ahsoka reached a decision. She pressed the signal button at Anakin's door and waited. He needed time to dress. Thirty seconds later, the door slid open. His eyes narrowed in confusion when he saw Ahsoka.

Before he could ask, she gestured to Leia. He followed her motion, coming the rest of the way awake in an instant. "Leia, is something wrong?"

"Everything is fine," said Ahsoka, and ushered Leia into the room past Anakin. She palmed the door panel shut behind them.

Anakin looked between them. "Is someone going to fill me in?"

"Are the two of you sleeping together?"

Anakin said, "What?"

Ahsoka said, "Yes."

He turned to her. "You told her?"

"She saw me leave your cabin."

"I watched you fight together," Leia said. "I'm surprised no one else figured it out. Luke's been obsessed with people having sex since he started dating."

Anakin's focus changed instantly. "Luke's started dating? Does he already have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? Never mind," he said. "Luke is too young to date. Neither of you should be dating yet. Do your parents know?"

"They know. He only goes to watch holos and hold hands, and I know because I know everything he does." She fixed Anakin with a stare. "You don't get to talk about inappropriate romances. I'm alive because of your last one."

Ahsoka said, "We were planning to tell you."

"When? We have to leave tomorrow before the other Jedi get here."

"That's for your safety," said Anakin. "You know that. One of them might sense you and Luke are Force-sensitive."

"I don't see why that's bad. They're going to find out eventually. You've been training us since we were kids."

From what she'd seen. Ahsoka would say Leia was stretching the concept of 'training' a bit far. The children knew very little compared to younglings at the Temple. Now wasn't the time to say so. She said instead, "There's a time and a place to reveal information. You and your brother will be grown soon, and better prepared to protect yourselves."

Leia turned. "When did you think the time and place would be to tell us you're in love?"

"After Obi-Wan leaves," Anakin said. "I'm not having that argument with him."

"He's going to find out, and he's going to be disappointed you didn't tell him outright." She frowned. "Wasn't that how he felt when he found out about our mother?"

"This is different. This is Jedi business."

"Ahsoka keeps saying she's not a Jedi. You won't let Luke and I become Jedi. You can't hide behind Jedi rules when you're breaking them again." She was caught between anger and wanting to cry, a terrible place to be when you're sixteen.

Ahsoka approached her. She didn't reach out to touch, nor did she bend down in condescension. "Leia, I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner. Everything is still new. But since you do know," she said, changing her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I would very much like to hear your ideas on how we should proceed with telling the rest of your family. I don't want to maintain a lie, but I do agree with Anakin that Obi-Wan is not going to approve, and none of us can afford to alienate him while we have the matter of the Esharans to discuss."

"You want my help?"

"Not exactly," said Anakin, placing a hand against her arm. "But we would appreciate your advice."

It was as though he had turned a key. Leia's whole demeanor unlocked. "You're right, Obi-Wan's not going to be happy. He'll be less upset if you tell him as soon as you can. He won't approve but he won't worry about what else you've been lying about."

"Nothing," said Anakin. "No lies, except by omission."

Leia watched him warily, and Ahsoka wondered how many tall tales she'd caught her father telling, and how many promises he'd broken over the years. "As soon as the business with Eshara is settled, you have to tell him. You should tell Father and Luke at the same time. If you tell them before you tell him, Luke will let it slip."

"You think we should keep them in the dark for now?"

"Yes. Another thing: we should be present at the discussion."

Anakin's expression turned to stone. "Not possible. You and Luke need to be gone before the others arrive."

"This affects us, too."

"Then I will act as your representative in the matter." There was a teasing edge to his voice.

Ahsoka said, "And if you'd prefer not to elect him, I volunteer for the position."

Leia ignored her. "When will you start letting us in?"

"When your parents stop being terrified I'll get you both killed if I do." A lifetime of hurt hid under the words.

Leia deflated. "That will be never." She glanced at Ahsoka. "You know, Mother thought you'd be a calming influence on him. You're why she agreed to let us come along on this mission. When she finds out about the two of you, she's not going to be happy. She won't let us come back for a very long time."

Anakin paused, then nodded his head. "That's a distinct possibility. We're still going to tell her."

So much of this Anakin was shaded with aspects of the young man Ahsoka knew long ago. His smile, his quick wit, the way he led with his heart instead of more staid planning, all of these were the same as when he'd been twenty. But there were moments she saw the changes. When they rested together, and she curled behind him, noting the thinning hair on his head, she knew he'd aged. When they went into battle, and he moved with grace in moves he had learned after they met, she knew he'd matured. Now, when faced with the consequences of revealing another forbidden romance, he chose the truth because it was better for his children, and she knew he'd become the good man she'd always believed he would.

Ahsoka already accepted that she loved him. She found herself in serious danger of getting soppy about it as well.

Leia tried one last time. "I might slip. I could accidentally tell everyone. Unless I was allowed to stay, of course, in which case I'd be much too busy."

Anakin folded his arms. "Young lady, that is blackmail, and it's beneath you."

"I'd like to think of it as strong negotiation."

"Go to bed, or I'm marching you to your cabin and telling Bail everything right now, including the attempted blackmail."

"It's not blackmail," she said, but Anakin had already opened the door to his quarters.

"Ahsoka, can you please accompany her Highness back to her cabin?"

"You should kiss her goodnight," Leia said.

"Out," said Anakin.

Ahsoka gestured, letting Leia lead the way. She turned as she walked, seeing Anakin watch them go. He gave her a half-shrug, which she returned.

"It's not fair," said Leia.

"You're very lucky, you know."

"I know," she said, head down, mildly annoyed. "Mother and Father remind us all the time. We are wealthy. We have power and influence, and we must use those to better the conditions of the people around us and the galaxy at large." She recited the words, half forlornly, and half with clear belief they were true.

"I meant that you and your brother have parents who love you more than the galaxy itself. I don't have any memories of my parents. I've observed plenty of families, though. You've got a good one, even though they frustrate you sometimes. You and your brother are going to accomplish great things in your lives. Your parents want to protect you from harm for as long as they can before you fly off."

"I know that, too. But we're almost seventeen. When you were our age, Anakin and Obi-Wan had you out fighting a war every day with them. I'm not asking for that. I'm only asking to be a bigger part of all this." She waved her hand. "Mother and Father say they want to save the galaxy through political compromise while they funnel ships, weapons, and money to the Separatists. Luke and I should be out here doing our part. Running missions of our own." Leia reached out with her powers, and touched at the edge of Ahsoka's mind before withdrawing. "Learning about what else we can do."

Ahsoka remembered this age, and this need to be doing more. She recognized the drive in the girl beside her very well from the people Leia had inherited it from, by blood and by example.

"I'll talk to your parents. All of them. I don't promise they'll agree."

* * *

"Out of the question," Anakin said at breakfast. "We discussed this already." He looked at Bail. "Tell her."

"I've been telling her for years."

"The discussion will be finished in three days," Leia said. "We can be helpful." She elbowed her brother. Luke elbowed her back.

"Don't get me involved."

"You said you wanted to meet other Jedi. This is our chance."

He looked thoughtful. "It would be nice to meet more people like us."

Anakin shook his head. Bail said, "It's not safe."

Obi-Wan had not joined them yet. Ahsoka wasn't sure which side he'd come in on. He did want the children to learn the use of their powers, and Ahsoka didn't blame him. She had been fighting a war when she'd been their age. She also knew that staying hidden had only helped her for a while when she'd been on the run after the fall of the Order in the last universe. Working together with Kanan and Ezra had filled something inside her she hadn't realized was missing. People like them needed one another around. Luke and Leia should interact with other Jedi besides their father if they were to grow into their powers.

Ahsoka said, "What are the risks?"

"You know the risks," said Anakin impatiently.

"Tell me anyway."

Bail said, "They would be found out. The others who come will sense they have the Force."

"And? Children are born with the Force. You and Bail have been friends for years. Tell the others you realized his children had the gift and that you've been training them privately. It's even true."

Anakin said, "Luke and I resemble each other. You saw it right away."

"But Rex never noticed, and he's met the kids several times. I noticed because I know you better than anyone else I've ever met. I don't think it's as big a risk as you fear."

Anakin said, "Leia put you up to this."

"No. She and I talked, and I saw her perspective. I know Breha won't like it. I know you both don't like it. I still think it's worthy of consideration. I was in combat by your side when I was sixteen. Back in the other universe, I worked with a Jedi Padawan about their age, and he was in the thick of things, too. He saved my life and brought me here."

Bail said, "Luke and Leia are not going to break down the walls between universes."

"Good morning," said Obi-Wan, letting himself into the room. "Did I hear you say I can take the twins with me back to Eshara?"

"Very funny," said Anakin. "No, you heard us say they need to go before the first arrivals get here later today."

Obi-Wan said, "A pity. I think they'd learn a great deal from observing our discussion. It will be the closest thing we'll have had to a Council meeting since they were born."

"It would be educational," Leia said.

"In that vein, and in the memory of my Master who couldn't be bothered with them, I've already decided I'm returning there to study the planet's population, regardless of the decision."

Luke said, "That would be educational, too."

Bail said, "You're not going."

Leia said, "So we're staying here? I'm glad we've settled that."

Ahsoka couldn't feel Bail's headache, but from the look in his eyes, she was positive he had a worse one now than when he'd been working with Senator Binks.

"Actually," Obi-Wan said, turning to Ahsoka, "I was hoping you'd join me on the expedition."

She blinked at him, confused. He'd spoken to her. She understood all the words he had said. They refused to line up in her mind as making sense. "What?"

"There's a chance you might unlock a way back to your home universe. Even if that doesn't work out, I believe you'd enjoy watching a pre-indust civilization as they grow. If the discussion ends in agreement, we may even start training them."

Luke said, "You could go home?"

"It's unlikely," she said with a quick thump of her heart, not looking at Anakin. "A million to one chance brought me here. I'd like to believe there's a reason why."

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan said, "the Force brought you here to work with these people. You're in a unique position. You've traveled through multiple universes, and you've learned the Jedi ways without choosing them for your own. That will be important to show them."

"Ahsoka is still learning the ropes of our universe," Anakin said. "She should stay at the base."

Obi-Wan looked at her. "You seem to have adjusted. As I said before, I'm surprised you haven't taken charge of your own battalion by now, although I'm glad under the circumstances. It will be easier for you to leave without those responsibilities holding you here. I'm sure Anakin means well wanting you to stay on, but as we all know," he added, with a nod to the twins, "he's a bit overprotective."

"You used to say I wasn't cautious enough."

"Multiple things can be true at the same time."

They were going to start arguing again. Ahsoka said, "Thank you for the offer. I'll consider what you've said, but I won't give you an answer until after the meeting is concluded. I'd like to have some idea what our plan even is before I agree to it."

Obi-Wan gave her a thoughtful look. "Do what you think is best." He turned to Bail. "For what it's worth, I believe more good than harm would come from the children meeting other Jedi. They may both enter the political arena one day, but they'll do so with the Force beside them. They should take every opportunity to learn about it before that time."

"I agree," said Luke. "We don't have to attend the closed discussion. We would benefit from meeting others like us."

"Agreed," said Leia. The twins fixed Bail with matched expressions. Ahsoka wondered how many times they'd asked him for extra treats and fathier rides as they'd grown up, and how many times he'd given in.

Bail pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache getting worse by the minute. "If I end up divorced, I'm coming with you to Eshara."

"Splendid!" said Obi-Wan. "I'll be glad to have you along."

Anakin said nothing.

* * *

They arrived one by one. Out of the dozens of surviving Jedi, seven came to speak for the rest. Ahsoka observed them all, matched in wariness. Their ships docked and departed, moving to nearby sectors and ready to run should this be a Republic ploy. Anakin they each greeted in turn as a friend. Obi-Wan they each viewed with pleased awe. As for Ahsoka, she was growing used to this.

"I heard the news," Katooni said, taking her hand. "I thought you were dead."

"It's a long story," Ahsoka replied, to her and to the rest. Some faces she remembered well while others were strangers. She told the barest lines of what had happened, setting the stage for the news they were yet to receive.

"Other timelines?" came the questions. "Other universes?" And always, spoken or not, the primary thought on each's mind: "What became of me and mine?"

Ahsoka responded with careful words, chosen with Anakin's help. "The survivors were too scattered. We had no means to communicate who was still alive unless we met by chance. Not like here," she'd add with a pleased smile. "You've built a powerful network of allies." Then the talk would turn to this universe, and she wouldn't have to tell another friend that she was certain they hadn't even been given a grave.

The corridors and walkways of the base were by no means full of Jedi, but the presence around her of so many others with the Force delighted her nonetheless. She'd taken for granted this feeling in her childhood. She wouldn't make the mistake now.

Ahsoka wasn't the only one basking in this unfamiliar camaraderie. Both Luke and Leia spent long hours conferring with their guests, ostensibly regarding Alderaan's interests in the Separatists' coming and goings. The others were used to Bail's calm, measured presence, but more than one seemed perplexed by the young Prince's cheerful questions, or by the young Princess's much sharper inquiries.

She met with Anakin in Command, keeping her words steady in such a public place. "You can feel it too, can't you?"

He nodded. "I wish we could gather more often." He gestured to his office. "May I have a word, Commander?"

"That depends on the word, General," she said, but followed him in with amusement. When the door shut, she said, "You know sex is out of the question right now. Everyone will know."

"Believe it or not, I was not asking you in here to have sex. Though since you mentioned it...."

"Anakin."

He grinned at her. "Fine. Putting a pin in that for now. I wanted to tell you, Ekria asked me about the kids. She's the first to bring it up."

"What did she ask?"

"How long I've known they were Force-sensitive. I told her the same thing we discussed. The Organas are old friends of mine. I've been teaching their children in secret for years. We would appreciate Ekria's silence on the matter for the sake of the kids' continued safety." He seemed pleased with the successful deception. "She seemed to take it fine."

"And how are you taking it?"

"I'm all right. They're not swinging lightsabers on the Senate floor. They're among friends." She could tell he was having some trouble making himself believe his own words. Fear always had been his worst trait, muttering in his ear that he'd lose the people he loved, tempting him with power to hold them at his side. Ahsoka would never know why the Anakin in her world fell, but she knew fear had been deeply entwined with the reasons.

"You're among friends, too," she told him, and she left before she let herself do anything bolder.

* * *

The _Cloudflower_ came last, as they'd expected. The meeting would begin an hour after the ship's planned arrival time, and they were punctual. Ahsoka was surrounded by others with the Force, and didn't notice the approach of the ship carrying another as she might have a week ago when it was just she and Anakin here, before Obi-Wan had arrived and changed everything.

The three of them greeted the new ship as they had the rest: Anakin because this was his base; Obi-Wan because this was his mission, and Ahsoka because she didn't trust the two of them not to bicker. An instant before the hatch opened, she felt the newcomer's presence, and a strange, fresh grief hit her stomach so hard Anakin turned to look at her.

"Snips? Are you all right?"

Her eyes went past him. Obi-Wan said,"Welcome, Caleb. We're glad you could join us."

"Master Obi-Wan," he said, pleased as he took Obi-Wan's hand. "I'm sorry for delaying things. We came as fast as we could." He turned to the open hatch and waved. A clone waited there. He nodded and closed the airlock. The ship departed shortly after. "I've got the voices of ten others. What are they trusting me to decide?"

Anakin said, "We're meeting shortly to go over things with everyone at the same time." He paused, waiting for Ahsoka to greet their last guest, but her tongue was stuck in her mouth. "Obi-Wan, can you show Caleb to his quarters? Ahsoka and I will meet you in the briefing room."

Caleb said, "I heard a rumor you were back. Good to see you again."

"You too," she said. From somewhere, she found the words, "We'll catch up with you later."

She watched Obi-Wan lead him out of the docking bay. Anakin placed his hand on her shoulder. "The last time I saw you react that badly to someone here, it was me." He stopped, searching for words. "Caleb was alive in your universe. That's obvious. Did he fall to the Dark Side there?" Like I did, he didn't add but she heard loud and clear. He was wondering if Caleb was a danger here.

"No. When I came through, Ezra told he he'd been killed some time after I fought...." She hesitated over the name, and Anakin nodded. "Ezra and I watched him perish through another doorway in the World Between Worlds." She shook her head. "From my perspective, everything happened right before I arrived here. I didn't think much about his death because I lost all my friends when I came though. It hit me all of a sudden that even if I went back now, he'd still be gone."

"He's alive now."

"It's not the same. He's not the same person here. He looks the same, for the most part, but the man I knew lived under a different name and lived a different life."

"That sounds familiar," said Anakin. He paused again. She picked up on the discomfort he felt. "In that other universe, you and Caleb weren't....?"

Ahsoka let out a quick laugh. That was enough to bring her composure back. She was sad, yes. She would have to let herself mourn Kanan in her own time, as she had mourned too many friends.

"No, we were not." She started walking towards the docking bay exit. "He was a good friend, and so was his wife."

* * *

Obi-Wan closed his projection and turned to the Jedi assembled in the small room. More than one had asked about the children prior to the presentation, but now they were ignored in favor of the revelation presenting itself before them.

Ekria broke the silence first. "It doesn't seem possible. An entire world full of beings who can use the Force?"

Caleb said, "It was the same on Haruun Kal, before the settlers came."

Obi-Wan said, "Because they all have powers, they've built their society around that fact. As you saw, they're pre-indust. We were careful not to make contact with them directly."

"We brought you here," Anakin said, "because this is a major discovery. If the Chancellor finds out there's a world with five million potential Force users, he will stop at nothing to invade and conquer them and bend them to his will."

A Chagrian Ahsoka didn't know but who'd been introduced to her as Lena Missa said, "It's not better if we're forcing them to join our side."

"I would never suggest or condone forcing them," said Obi-Wan. "I'm more concerned with how we can protect them from the Republic."

"They're in the Unknown Regions. That should be safe enough."

"Master Obi-Wan found them there. What's to stop someone else?"

The voices rose and merged, repeating the same points Ahsoka and Anakin had made in this same room a week ago. She tuned them out, directing her mind to focus on the faces and the emotions. Fear lay like a fog at their feet, not pressing but present. This discovery could change the balance of power in the galaxy. Seizing it was out of the question, but some were tempted nonetheless.

"We could identify a few individuals, bring them to us, and train them."

"What happens if one is captured? If the Republic discovers one, they'll figure out the rest."

"Perhaps not. The Force appears in many the Empire doesn't know."

"What do we know about the temple site?"

The conversation drifted back to Obi-Wan's other discovery again and again. Five million Force users were a great wealth. A power site? One that might be another access point to the multiverse itself? Such promise lay beyond comprehension.

Obi-Wan said, "Very little. We could only make observations from a distance. I didn't have the theory about what else might be in there until Ahsoka told us how she'd arrived in our universe."

She felt eyes turn to her, and look away again as the others considered her story and the implications.

"Can we travel through to her universe?" That was Katooni, and she sounded curious rather than probing.

Ahsoka said, "I'm not sure how I arrived in the first place, or why I wasn't still in my own universe. But yes, having considered the matter, I believe if I found another portal, I could go through in the other direction and return to the universe I left."

Obi-Wan said, "Our more pressing concern is ensuring that the Chancellor never breaches the portal, should there be one."

There was more talk. Questions piled into each other, and suggestions flowed like slow honey. Anakin had said nothing for a long time, his expression closed off as the others spoke.

They weren't coming to a conclusion.

Ahsoka stood. "Thank you, everyone, for coming. The beginning of the discussion has been very useful. We'll reconvene after dinner." She half-expected Obi-Wan or Anakin to countermand her. Neither did. "We'd prefer you not discuss this matter where others could hear. The briefing room has dampeners to prevent listening devices if you want to continue your conversations."

She opened the door, and did not wait for the others to stir. She went to Command, and she waited, looking over the day's reports. Republic forces were gathering in the Auril Sector. Rex had written this report, and he'd already identified the top five systems he thought were most vulnerable.

After two more reports, Anakin stepped into Command. Ahsoka handed him the reports she'd perused. "The Auril Sector may cause us problems in the near future."

"Wouldn't be the first time," he said, skimming Rex's notes. "Thank you." He gave it back and headed into his office. Ahsoka followed him in and closed the door. "Did you need something?"

"You were awfully quiet in the meeting."

"There was a lot to consider." His office had no windows here deep in the moon's crust, but a screen was set to capture a view of the starfield far above them. He stood by the view now, his eyes tracing patterns in the distant stars. "You're seriously thinking about going back."

She'd expected him to dance around the issue. She was glad he didn't. "I have to look at all my options. I don't believe there's a way into the World Between Worlds on this new planet. Don't ask me why. It's just a feeling."

"But there might be, and if there is, you want to go back to your home."

"Part of me does, yes. I miss my friends. I miss the good I was doing there. I worry for the people I care about without me there to help them."

She could feel the conflict inside him. "Were you happy there?"

That was a question for the ages. A Jedi, or someone raised and trained by Jedi, didn't pursue happiness, not at the expense of duty or what was right. She'd tried to help Ezra understand that lesson, the truth Kanan had offered him as his last teaching. Happiness was what people like them sacrificed for the sake of the people they loved. Anakin had sacrificed a life spent with his own children for their sakes. That was who they had been brought up to be. Her personal happiness was not meant to factor into her decisions any more than theirs had.

"I was content. But I know if I go back now, I'll miss my friends here, and I'll miss the good I am doing here, and I will always worry about the people I care about without me here to help you." She touched his arm. "I couldn't be content there."

"Can you be content here?" Under the words, she heard him asking if she would stay here with him, or take command of her own battalion and serve as a leader in their war, somewhere far away. 

"No."

He nodded, and she felt the banked sorrow.

She took his face in her hand. "I'm not content. I'm happy, and I'm staying."

She meant to kiss him with a quick, stolen peck on the mouth. It was the first she'd kissed him in days, and his lips opened to hers. Ahsoka was getting too accustomed to this, to the warmth of Anakin's arms reaching to hold her, and to the taste of his breath against hers, and to the pulse and hum of his thoughts against hers, almost clear enough to read. She'd missed this extra level of touch, even as physically close as they'd been over the last few days. She felt more comfortable pressing herself against him than she'd felt anywhere else in her entire life, and she felt his smile under hers. Happiness was contagious.

The polite cough behind her caught her heart in her throat.

"Hello," said Obi-Wan. "Was there something the two of you neglected to mention?"


	4. Chapter 4

Ahsoka felt Anakin's hands drop away from her instantly, although it was far too late now. She felt the blush high on her cheeks. Anakin's eyes darkened as he looked at Obi-Wan. Anger, which was never far enough from him, circled the edges of his mind.

They weren't in the line of sight of anyone through the door. Obi-Wan turned and palmed the panel to close it, shutting out the rest of the base. He stood there watching them both, his expression inscrutable. Ahsoka felt like a child again, wanting to scramble for an excuse, an explanation. It wasn't what it looked like. There was a reasonable story to tell him.

She wasn't a child. She didn't need to lie. Also, he'd seen enough.

Obi-Wan broke the silence first. "You'd stayed on for longer than I would have expected. And after I watched the two of you sparring, I wondered."

"That's how Leia figured it out," Ahsoka said.

"Leia knows? Do Bail and Breha know?"

Anakin said, "We were going to tell Bail and Luke after the meeting concluded. We were going to tell you at the same time." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Breha's not going to let me see the kids again for years once we do tell her."

"She's got a more level head than you think," said Obi-Wan. "Also, she likes Ahsoka." He gave her a little smile. "Everyone does, it seems. They're talking about you now, back in the briefing room. I can't imagine what they'd say if I told them what you were doing in this one."

Anakin said, "We weren't doing anything."

Obi-Wan shot him a glance that spoke volumes. "How long have you been together?"

"Since Boonta," Ahsoka said. "Before that we were still both coming to terms with the other one being alive. How angry are you with us?"

"Not at all. Disappointed, perhaps." He looked at Anakin. "I'd thought you had learned better the hard way."

"This is different," Anakin said.

"You're still sneaking around while flouting the rules," Obi-Wan said. His tone didn't grow sharp with the rebuke. Frustrated and sad, yes. "It was a terrible mistake last time. The children are a delight," he added, "and I'll hear nothing against them. The Force creates wonder even from our follies." He looked at Ahsoka with a deep worry. "This goes past folly. Padawans and their Masters already share a deep bond. The two of you are my family. We're not meant to cross that line. It's too dangerous."

"I wasn't his Padawan," Ahsoka said. "I was apprenticed to the Anakin Skywalker in my universe. Anakin mentored the Ahsoka Tano in this one. We aren't those people."

"It took us both a while to understand," said Anakin.

"You're splitting hairs, and it doesn't matter because you both know the reason for the rules about attachment."

Anakin said, "You're worried it could cloud our judgement."

"I'm worried about what happens when either of you has to choose between the fate of the galaxy, and the fate of the other. I'm worried that the Force will lead you to your destinies, and you will stray from them because you want something else."

"Then we're just like everyone else," said Ahsoka. "If Leia or Luke was in danger, Bail and Breha would stop at nothing to protect them, and the other twin would walk through fire. If it meant my life or the safety of the entire Separatist fleet, Rex would choose me because he's my friend. We're already all connected with each other."

She could tell he didn't like her line of reasoning. She could also see his worries for them both plain on his face. Something else lingered in the play of emotion behind his eyes: wistfulness, though she'd hardly believe it.

As Anakin started to say something that would launch another spat between them, she said, "Please take time to consider things from our point of view. That's all we ask."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "When you put it that way, I suppose I shall. We'll talk again once the discussion is concluded."

"Good," said Anakin.

"I should go," Ahsoka said. "I'll see you both at dinner." She gave Anakin's hand a squeeze and left them there.

* * *

They ate in private once again with Bail and the kids. Leia and Luke peppered them with questions about the meeting, what the others had suggested, what their plans were.

"We haven't decided," said Obi-Wan. "No, the two of you aren't joining me. Your parents would never approve." Luke appeared disappointed, though not surprised.

After dinner, Anakin asked Obi-Wan if the kids could take a good look around his ship, even though they wouldn't be traveling with him. He raised one eyebrow but agreed. Ahsoka lingered in the room, wondering if this would go easier with Anakin and Bail alone.

As soon as the door shut, Bail said, "There's something on your mind."

Anakin hesitated. "There is." Faced with the opportunity to tell someone rather than be found out, he tripped over his own words and went silent.

"Anakin and I are together," Ahsoka said. "We wanted you and the children to know."

"_I_ wanted you to know," Anakin said. "I don't want to hide things from the kids, or from you and Breha. I swear I'll do my best for none of this to endanger them in any way."

Bail looked between them. "Should I pretend to be surprised?"

Ahsoka said, "You knew?"

"I suspected. Also, while Leia is good at keeping secrets, she hasn't yet learned to hide that she's keeping a secret. It wasn't difficult to narrow down the possibilities."

Anakin's face broke from worry into cautious optimism. "How angry will Breha be?"

"Not at all. She believes Ahsoka's a good influence on you. We were both worried what would happen if she were to take up her own command away from you." He nodded to her. "I had thought that was the reason you decided to stay."

"To babysit him?"

"To encourage him to be better."

"Better than what?" Anakin asked with a hint of offense.

"My friend, you have been in mourning for the life you thought you would live ever since the day the twins were born. I've watched you spend your grief on the galaxy, fighting every day so they will be able to live in freedom. We've tried to give you what time we can with Luke and Leia, and I regret that it's been so little."

"That's for their safety," Anakin said, and Ahsoka finally heard his words for what they meant, and understand what he had been saying all this time. The Anakin Skywalker she'd known, the one who shared blood and bone with this man, had lost so much that he had become obsessed with protecting the people he'd cared about. Anakin wasn't repeating a platitude. The very concept of keeping his children safe had been his primary driver and motivator their entire lives, underlining every command decision, every strategic move against the Republic, and every retreat as well. He'd promised himself to build a galaxy for their sakes, an oath that had destroyed his soul in her old universe and saved him from that dark fate in this one.

"I know," Bail said. "I also know you've worked yourself harder than anyone I have ever met, all for their sake. I can never thank you enough for the things you've done, even when I know it must have cut you to the sinew."

"It's nothing," said Anakin.

"It's everything," said Bail. "And that's why I've been so pleased to see how happy you've been over the past few months. Before Ahsoka joined us in this universe, the only times I ever saw you smile were when you were with the children. Now you're smiling all the time. You're not grieving your life any longer. You're living." He looked at Ahsoka. "I have no idea why the Force brought you to our door. Obi-Wan may be correct, and it may be your destiny to wander off with him to investigate this new world. I can't say. All I know is, I am very glad you are here. If you are both happy, then I am happy for you. I can't imagine Breha will feel differently."

"I can," Anakin said.

Ahsoka said, "Leia's sure she won't like it."

"Leia's young. She still believes there is one correct answer to every question. Her mother understands that's rarely the case, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. Leia will learn in time."

Anakin folded his arms, grateful for a means to change the subject. "Speaking of, she told me Luke is dating. You know he's too young for that."

Bail said, "I wouldn't call it dating. He's spending social time with friends." As Anakin protested, he held up a hand. "Please, this is something Breha and I can handle."

At the end of things, they were raising the twins and he was not. Perhaps it wasn't the best life for them all, but it was the one they were living now. "Right."

* * *

The delegates met again that evening. They had broken off into twos and threes, discussing what they knew, and what they wanted. Ahsoka had already considered what she wanted. She did not want to go on the expedition. She was happier not knowing if the temple on the far-off world had another portal into the World Between Worlds.

"We should send someone with Master Obi-Wan to investigate further," said Katooni.

Ekria said, "That will only push off the decision. We need to put a plan in place now to protect them from discovery by the Republic."

"We can't protect them," said Caleb. "And maybe that's not our purpose. The Force may have brought them to us as a lesson rather than a resource."

"What's the lesson, then?" asked a Muun Ahsoka didn't know, who was only a handful of years older than the twins.

"That there's hope." The rest of them turned. Anakin had sat in the back of the room, watching them. This was the first he'd spoken since they'd reconvened. "No matter what happens to the rest of us out here, the Force is with more people than we can comprehend. It's not something that belongs to the Jedi, or that can be conquered by the Sith. The Republic could kill every last Jedi tomorrow, and the Force would go on, waiting to spring up again."

Lena said, "Like the Organas' children. If they were born with the gift, there are others out there, and always will be."

"So we do nothing," said Obi-Wan. "I would like to go back, but that may not be wise. I'll wipe my ship's navicomputers tonight. Then the Esharans will be safe, even from us."

Agreement passed through the group. It felt anticlimactic, Ahsoka thought, but it also felt like the correct decision.

* * *

Obi-Wan joined them in the briefing room after the meeting dispersed. "Less than I hoped for, but more than I expected."

Anakin asked, "You were hoping we'd find a reason to train the Esharans?"

"I was thinking they might be able to teach us. But this is better."

Ahsoka said, "They'll be safe. They may not know it, but they're happier this way."

Obi-Wan said, "There are good reasons we have rules for contact with pre-indust civilizations. They have the right to develop along their own path."

"Even if it means an armada of Force sensitives attack the Core five hundred years from now?"

"That," said Obi-Wan, "is a problem for the Jedi alive then, and not for us." His mouth quirked. "We have our own problems."

"I don't see it as a problem," Ahsoka said.

"I don't suppose you do. The rules about Masters and Padawans came from the same root as the rules about pre-industs. Padawans are young and impressionable, but each one has the right to grow and develop along their own path, and not be coerced into a relationship."

"I didn't coerce her," Anakin said, ire rising in his voice.

"I never said you did. I said that was the reason for the rule. There are no rules about Padawans coming back from the dead years later, and certainly nothing about them traveling through portals from other universes." He looked at Ahsoka. "I looked at things from your point of view, as you asked. He isn't the Anakin you knew. You're not the Ahsoka we knew."

"Yes," she said. "The rule doesn't apply."

"The other one does, to Anakin alone. You can say you're no longer a Jedi, and I will abide by your statement. Anakin is."

Anakin closed his eyes and took a breath. "What does that mean, exactly? I was trained to be a Jedi, but there's no Temple any longer, and no real Order. This is the largest meeting we've had in years. When the others leave, there won't be another meeting like this."

"We must remain true to who we were, or we risk losing the legacy of millennia. Our duty bids us carry on. Believe me, I know it's hard to be separated from the rest of our kind for so long."

Anakin shook his head. "They're not my kind. You know that. You started me on the path when I was too old. Even Yoda said so. I'm not like the other Jedi. I'm not like you. And I don't have to be. I've been my own kind of Jedi since you and Qui-Gon brought me to Coruscant the first time. I didn't hold to the rule before, and yes, it went bad at the end, but it could have gone worse." He looked at Ahsoka. "You said I went to the Dark Side in your universe."

She could still see the dark helmet behind her eyelids when she closed her eyes. "Yes. But you didn't here."

"I'm better when I have people I love nearby. Or so I've been told."

"You are," she said. "And so am I."

Obi-Wan said, "You are both being foolish. But ever since I've known either of you, no one's been able to talk you out of a decision you've already made. I won't argue with you further. I will say, since you've set yourselves on this path, it's your responsibility to each take great care for the other's heart. I care too much for you both to ever want to see you hurt."

It wasn't a blessing, but it was the closest he could come. Ahsoka took Obi-Wan into a fierce hug, feeling his worry echoing through him. "Thank you." To her surprise and joy, when she let go, Obi-Wan embraced Anakin next.

"I have always wanted you to be the best person you could be," Obi-Wan said. "Forgive me if I sometimes forget you already are."

* * *

They departed as they came. Ships docked like birds sipping nectar, dipping in close before flitting away. Bail had to take the twins away on his next mission. Anakin said his goodbyes in private, and while she felt his regret watching their ship pull away from the station, she also felt his peace.

"They'll be back soon," he said, reading the question on her face. "Now that they've managed a visit without any disasters, Breha will feel better letting them come to see me more often. Bail thinks so, and I want to believe he's right."

"I don't think I could have managed to coparent as well as the three of you do."

They were alone. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "And here I thought you might be interested in learning."

She rested her head against him. "I might be."

* * *

More ships left, taking people who shared the faces of old friends. Katooni didn't care if Ahsoka wasn't her Ahsoka. She hugged her for five minutes solid before she left. "Promise you'll come," she said. Her personal fleet was small, dedicated less to military attack and more to rendering aid to worlds the Republic had devastated. She looked around them, ensuring no one else would see, then whispered to Ahsoka, "I'd love for you to meet my wife."

Ahsoka gave her a look of astonished delight.

"Don't say anything to anyone, please. You're not like the others. You understand things don't always need to stay the way they were."

Ahsoka squeezed her hand. "I can't wait to meet her."

She didn't watch the _Cloudflower_ go. In time, she'd be capable of seeing Caleb for who he was rather than mistaking him for his lost twin in that other life. She wondered if seeing Rex's face copied so many times over had inured her to the differences between her friend here and the friend who was surely mourning her in the other timeline. There was no way to know, nor to send him or the others some message that she was alive, that she was safe, that she was happy.

"I don't know what you're thinking," Anakin said, "but you're doing it really loudly." They were in her cabin, and the lights were almost too dim to make out his face beside her. Her quarters were smaller than his, and the bunk more snug, but that meant holding him closer. Ahsoka didn't mind a bit.

"Thinking about Rex. The one who was in my timeline. I was regretting I couldn't let him know that I'm all right, and that I found you. He'd be glad to hear it."

He lay still beside her for a while. "Obi-Wan said he's not going back to that planet. I think he meant he's not telling anyone when he does. You could still go with him. You could see if there's a way for you to go home." His words came slowly. If she didn't know him better, she would think he was falling asleep, but she heard the struggle behind every syllable. After everything, he was willing to let Ahsoka walk away again if that's what she needed to do.

And that's why she wasn't ever leaving him again.

"I am home," she said, and she rolled until her body covered his. They'd already made love once tonight, quick and frantic as soon as they'd been alone. Now they went with a gentler pace, spending long minutes enjoying the feel of lips against jaw and chin, and longer still with the tender scratch of fingernails against taut skin, warm palms resting on curves and planes, her teeth at his neck and the strange, hard press of his metal finger against her most sensitive place sending shivers through her. When at last she guided him into her, she enjoyed the almost surprised glitter of his eyes as much as she did the first, good, thick thrust. She couldn't read his mind, only the surge of his emotions and the reverberation of his pleasure as they coupled, and these were enough to tell her that he was home, too.

* * *

Obi-Wan's ship left the next morning. If he'd sensed echoes of what the two of them had done the night before, he had the good manners not to say anything as they all took breakfast together in the mess. They didn't discuss Eshara, nor the meeting. Too many troops who didn't need to know were eating their own breakfasts, thinking about their own love lives, and talking about their own homes. Instead, Ahsoka told her friends stories about the other universe, a place she was starting to remember with the same sepia-hued memories as her days in the Jedi Temple. She told them about Kaeden and her sister, and about how she'd begun her time as Fulcrum. She remembered how she'd first met Leia as a toddler.

"Not Luke?" Obi-Wan asked, curious.

"I never met him," she said. "He may not have been born."

"Pity," said Obi-Wan. "He and Leia both are the light of their parents' lives."

"Yes, they are," Anakin said, and he drank his caf with a fond smile that held no whisper of sorrow. They'd be back.

The three of them went together to the docking bay. Hotwire had already boarded and set the ship's course. Obi-Wan's small crew would be waiting, and the rest of his troops loitered in a star system not far from here. They'd return to their mission of scouting and charting the Unknown Regions. He could be gone for years.

"I'm going to miss you," Ahsoka said, hugging him one more time. "I wish you would stay."

"For your sake, I wish I could."

Anakin said, "I expect to hear from you regularly." He reached for Obi-Wan's hand, and wound up in a hug of his own instead. "Take care of yourself, old friend."

Obi-Wan entered the airlock hatch, and looked back at them. For a moment, she thought she read some private amusement on his face, but the Obi-Wan she'd known as a girl had always had a twinkle in his eyes and he'd always looked like he was entertaining a joke he wasn't sharing. 

"Take care of each other," he said. "There's little enough joy in the galaxy. May the wellspring you've found together never run dry."

The hatch closed before either could reply. Moments later, the ship detached.

"Now what?" she asked Anakin.

"Back to work. We've got to deal with Boonta if the Senate can't come up with a political option, and those troop movements in the Auril Sector have me worried. We'll want to send a team to look into it."

"I'll take a team with Rex. We've been talking about taking a mission together."

"Leaving already?" he asked, taking her hand as they walked.

"Tomorrow," she said. She squeezed his hand as she added, "The best part about going somewhere new is coming home."

"Then welcome home," Anakin said, and kissed her.


End file.
